My DCS is 5 yrs old. I never really think about the scratch factor--its a STOVE, and it gets used. Looking at it now, tho, it has only 3 or 4 on the front edge. Of course, its just DH & me, no kids, so maybe that makes a difference. But you'll enjoy it.

Just be careful removing the grates when cleaning and that is about all we've found so far.
Congrats!

Judydel...Congratulations. Please let us know how you like your new DCS. I hope to have one someday soon and I have been following closely, the posts regarding them.

Did it come with a broiler pan? I have heard that some companies no longer include them at no cost.

Enjoy your new purchase.

Thanks for all of the kind words and advice.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT SO FAR

I can't believe HOW MUCH MORE ROOM this 30" stove has compared to my old 30" stove. The first thing I did after they installed it is load up the stove with pots and pans. I fit my huge canning pot, plus two 10" dutch ovens, and one 10" fry pan around the perimeter. And I still had room for a 2 qt saucepan in the center! When I used to can on my old stove I felt like the pot was going to slide off of the stove because it hung over the front. This DCS rocks for stovetop configuration!

Oh and then there is the heat. The low setting is roughly the same heat as my high settings were. Last night when I sauteed mushrooms and onions, I had to put it almost down to the low simmer otherwise my olive oil would smoke. (I found this out the hard way after smoking and discarding the first pan of olive oil.) The low simmer was perfect for simmering my pot of pasta sauce for hours. It didn't stick once even though I hardly stirred. And the pasta water boiled much quicker than I'm used to. Nice!

I ran the oven for about an hour yesterday to burn off the new oven odor. I just turned it back on and I notice it still smells. I wonder how long it takes to be odor free. I thought I should wait until it doesn't smell anymore before I actually cook anything in the oven. I haven't tried the infra red broiler yet . . . but I will to see if that too has a smelly burn off time.

I've been using a dish rag with a bit of mild dish detergent to wipe it down, followed by a dry dish towel (one in each hand). And it cleans streak free. I don't like using a bunch of different household cleaners, so this works great for me.

Oh and the front doesn't get hot, just warm IMO (with the oven set at 350 degrees anyway).

Thanks for everyone's posts, which helped me to make a decision. My appliance dealer highly recommended this stove (it wasn't on my radar at first). And I'm so glad he did. He said that they are pretty much maintenance free, and that everyone he sells them to loves them. They are a good work horse in his words . . . and priced right. No electronics to break. The knobs are sturdy and beautiful. And for not being a ss lover, I actually am surprised at how much I like the look.

I'm glad I went for this one instead of the four burner 30" Blue Star (not enought burners), or the six burner 36" Blue Star (more expensive and takes up more room).

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg295/JudyDel/P_RG-304.jpg

Ohh and yes it did come with the broiler pan. My old broiler pan was heavier, this one seems kind of lightweight.

Sorry for the triple posts but I just wanted to mention one more thing for Karen or anyone else considering a DCS. I'm really impressed by the oven racks. They are on gliders so they roll in and out smoothly. And the racks can't fall out if you pull them too far because they have safety stops.

Truly, I think the DCS is a well kept secret.

Not sure if this is standard on all ovens these days. But my daughter just reminded me that one of her favorite features (compared to our old stove) is that when you put the oven light on, you can actually see through the glass into the oven. With our old stove, the oven glass was black so you couldn't see in even with the light on. With the DCS the glass looks black until you put the light on. I like the way the black glass, black trimmed knobs and black grates look with the ss. Can you tell I'm liking this? : )

Congrats.

I see from the pic you posted that you have the similar dull stainless spill area by the burners. We've found this to be a dream to keep clean. Same deal as you. We use a damp sponge with just a little tad of dish soap to clean up grease etc. and then wipe it down with a soft towel to dry. Works a treat.

Smell wise in the oven.....we ran the oven for probably two hours when we first got it. Ran it at about 350 for a while and then turned it up. We then ran the broiler for a while as it produced a smell as well as it burned things off. Took a couple of times maybe for the smell to totally go away (going off memory).

Be sure to read the instruction manual thoroughly. Tells you how to use the convection and also not to cover the bottom with foil or anything.

We love ours. We have the 36 AG 6 burner. Tonnes of real estate for pots. We can both stand side by side and cook on it which is nice.

Some things we found with ours...

Same as you, you will need to re learn how to set the temp on the burners. Our old range we had to crank everything on high, this one now we just look at where the flame pattern is on the pan bottom so it isn't going up the sides and leave it at that. For the most part, except for huge stock pots we have, we are cooking on med low to low. Simmer works great!

Oven works well and has a large capacity. Takes a bit to preheat the 36, but we just turn it on when we are in the prep stage and it is ready by the time we are. Don't go off the ready lamp. I've found it takes a bit longer to get to full temp all around the cavity. We use a good quality oven thermom. I do find that with the oven convection on, if an item is placed too close to the fan on the rack that it will tend to brown faster there than in the front of the oven. We use (right or wrong) convection when we do pizza on a stone on the bottom rack. Half way through cooking I spin the pizza to get it even. No biggie and makes a great pizza. With the AG at times we've found when first preheating the oven that we can get some condensation on the back splash area (stainless also). Just have to remember to pop the vent hood on for the first few minutes to keep things circulating. At least that is the way it works for us.

Cleaning the oven we use soft scrub or just a sponge with mild soapy water (hot) and a towel to wipe out. Works on most as we don't let things get too far gone. Cooked a ham that spattered everywhere. Trully horrific! Did what I could wiping etc. and finally used a cold oven cleaner. Just a few minutes I was able to wipe it out and the oven is clean as new again! Just be sure not to spray the temp probe in the top of the oven. At least that is where ours is.

We love the fact that the range is industrial and simple construction. Whole thing is made for function and it works well.

Happy cooking!

Cheers

pggirl thanks for taking the time to share in my new stove bliss and to offer your wisdom as a DCS owner. I especially appreciate your advice on cleaning the oven. The appliance store suggested NOT getting the self cleaning DCS, so I didn't. I had self clean on my last range and never once used it. But with our last range we also never cleaned the oven and it got very gross. I'll take your advice and I'll try to keep up with the splatter and spills in the oven as they happen. And ah yes, I do need to sit down with a cup of coffee and thoroughly read through the manual. Thanks for the reminder : )